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Love It Or Hate It, Ripoff Report Is In Expansion Mode

Ed Magedson lives at a secret location in Arizona, convinced that some people not only fantasize about killing him but would actually do so if they got the chance. His home – he has moved repeatedly in recent years — sits fortified behind fences with cameras watching for intruders. He makes special arrangements to dispose of trash lest enemies go through his detritus. He worries that a stray hair could leave behind DNA clues. He records his phone conversations, and if he meets a new person, sometimes hires bodyguards to sit nearby.

Ed Magedson of RipoffReport

Why all the elaborate precautions? Magedson, 61, runs Ripoffreport.com. Depending on your point of view, Magedson either champions consumer rights or callously destroys reputations. His site allows anyone to complain anonymously about any firm or person, and no matter what, Magedson says he will not remove the posting. (There’s a way to get it removed from Google, though.) But he will accept thousands of dollars per case for his corporate advocacy program, in which companies can place content above the offending comments after agreeing to handle customer complaints promptly and making a “a written commitment to providing superior customer satisfaction regarding their products and services.”

Consumer champion empowering the little guy against scams and bad service, or eccentric exploiter? I wanted to meet him to see what he had to say for himself. But first I would have to locate him.

With roots dating back to 1997, Magedson’s site allows anyone to complain about anything: poor workmanship, a rude doctor or banker, a scam. Unlike Yelp which mixes good and bad reviews, Ripoff Report focuses on the negative. Their slogan is, “Don’t let them get away with it.” The company says it receives 125,000 to 250,000 visits a day, or more than a million a week. Quantcast, which measures Internet audiences, puts it among the top 1,000 U.S. websites.

The site generates several million dollars of revenue a year, the company says. Here’s how it makes its money. Criticized firms can pay a flat fee based on the volume of complaints received about them. It can be as low as $5,500 but some firms have paid more than $100,000. The money pays for inspectors to verify that complaints have been resolved, and then the site injects a new headline and lengthy text above the original complaint. Magedson says he gets about 40 new customers every month. If complaints return, the site strips off the positive headline and copy. Financial products company Primerica is in the program, as are Lear Capital, an online gold coin company, nationwide franchise Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning, and many others.

Companies can also pay $2,000 to have a third-party arbitrator establish statements of fact in postings. Ripoff Report will redact any wrong facts but leave in everything else. About 30 firms have paid for such arbitration, says in-house lawyer Anette Beebe. These programs help generate several million dollars of revenue a year, Magedson says.

Later in May the company hopes to launch a new program called Ripoff Report Verified that gives firms 14 days to resolve complaints before a critical review is posted. For a cost of $90 a month, the program, which uses the slogan “Businesses You Can Trust,” may also help firms achieve higher prominence in Internet searches because of Ripoff Report’s high rankings on Google. Magedson says he is now in talks with several major credit card companies to market the service to their merchants, as well as four major auto related companies to put their dealers into the Verified directory. Ripoff Report has turned to outside sales firms to help generate new business.

Some of those criticized complain of unfair allegations, such as Eve Adams, who co-owns music business ACM Records in Fairlawn, New Jersey. She said a rock band unhappy with their contract posted on Ripoff Report. “It set off a ripple effect with many of our artists that started calling us after that, that we want you to cease and desist, we don’t want to be signed to you anymore,” she says. “Not only did it cost me money, it became a nightmare.”

The site’s ability to land prominently in searches gives a special sting to its more than three quarters of a million reports. Ripoff Report comes up second in searches for ACM Records, as it does for Sarah Van Assche Interiors in Chicago. Van Assche blames a client who did not pay bills for the report, and said the bad publicity has crippled her firm. “At first, I believed the economy was impacting my business. I can’t believe how stupid I was!” Van Assche says. “My multimillion dollar practice is gone. I have laid off all my employees and am renting out rooms in my home to pay the mortgage.”

Ripoff Report’s IT director, Justin, who asked that his last name not be published, said the company does not do anything special to boost its rankings in search engines. He says their high placement stems from having been around for many years and from having relevant content that people click on. Asked about Ripoff Report’s prominent rankings, a Google spokesman said: “Our search algorithms reflect useful content on the web based on web links and over 200 other signals. We develop and maintain our search algorithms independently of our ads and our search algorithms are not influenced by ads.”

Eventually, perhaps because I contacted him from a major university at a time he is seeking to expand his business, Magedson agrees to meet in the flesh at a temporary office in the Phoenix area — provided I do not reveal his exact whereabouts. He wears a gray T shirt and track pants over his corpulent frame, several day old stubble, a Benjamin Franklin look with balding head and flowing locks to his shoulders, and lightly tinted frameless glasses. “I wouldn’t be doing a good job if I didn’t have people who hated me,” he says. “Nobody gets onto to Ripoff Report because they didn’t do something to somebody.”

“Is there anyone who is getting stuff written about them that is false? Sure,” he continues. But “ninety nine percent of the time there is some truth in it.”

In what Magedson calls his “comic section” users can make personal comments. One post says San Francisco resident Robin Savage, 46, gave AIDS to at least four men and posts her photo. In a tearful phone call, she says the report is false and adds she took an AIDS test as proof. “I just feel that my life is over. There are days I want to stand on the edge of a train track,” she says. “It is so violating. No one should have to go through this.”

Asked about a comment alleging another woman had herpes, Magedson responds: “This f—— broad probably did something.” He laughs when told about the downturn at Sarah Van Assche Interiors. If so much money was at stake, Magedson says, she should have sued her accuser for slander or paid Ripoff Report its $2,000 fee to conduct an arbitration.

A poor student, the Long Island native (with Long Island twang still intact) dropped out of high school and played Hammond B3 organ with local rock bands in the late 1960s. He tried college for six months and quit. Then he made millions in the 1970s importing flowers from South America, employing young people to sell them on street corners across the United States. He later went into real estate development.

One episode illustrates Magedson’s stubborn tenacity. During a business trip to Los Angeles in the 1980s, he dropped off a suit and clothes for cleaning a few days before a big meeting. The store lost the items and declined to compensate him $800 he demanded. Magedson printed a sign board encouraging a boycott and wore it for several days. The owner eventually paid him about $2,000 to go away, he says.

Magedson first set up his site to promote his self-published book “Rip-off Revenge” and to give consumers a forum to vent. “Over the years one of the things I dealt with was a lot of guys getting f—–,” he says. “If something is not fair and it’s upside down, I want to change it.”

His uncompromising stance as the head of his company called Xcentric Ventures has provoked a stream of angry letters and lawsuits. “Usually a day or week doesn’t go by that I don’t get a threat of a lawsuit,” he says with pride. He has paid more than $5 million in legal bills over the years, adding that Ripoff Report has been sued more than 70 times but never lost a U.S. case or “paid one dime to anyone ever.” His litigation attorney David Gingras says they did lose a 2003 case in the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Some U.S. rulings have criticized Ripoffreport.com. “The business practices of Xcentric, as presented by the evidence before this Court, are appalling,” the Third District Court of Appeals in Florida ruled in a 2011 case. “However much as this Court may disapprove of business practices like those embraced by Xcentric, the law on this issue is clear. Xcentric enjoys complete immunity from any action brought against it as a result of the postings of third party users of its website.”

A lifelong bachelor, Magedson spends his day cradling a cell phone on his shoulder when not editing the website. Admitting he suffers from attention deficit disorder, he often gets distracted. He drifts from topic to topic. Whenever his cell phone rings, no matter what he is doing, he will answer. Even if sitting with expensive lawyers billing him by the minute.

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He’s PUFFY, he’s BLOATED, he needs a hair cut and everyone should start writing BAD crap about HIM – since he enjoys trying to hurt innocent business and it’s representatives!! Everyone needs to sign a petition to incarcerate this guy!! Who want’s to sign up first!..

He then promotes and provides a link Reputation.com (formerly Reputation Defender) which was founded by Harvard alumnus, Michael Fertik.

Reputation Defender and Reputation.com have been accused of extorting money from clients since 2010, go ahead and google them. Interesting that all the accusations written about Harvard alumnus Michael Fertik’s company are not being projected onto Ripoff Report by Harvard fellow Adam Tanner.

I am not sure why all the attacks on Ripoff Report. They taught us how to fight back after my husband did not get his final pay check. He had not been paid, and left his job because he refused to work for free, imagine that. After not being given his final check after a month we posted our story and the business on Ripoff Report. Two-days later we had my husband’s money and an apology. Amazing that within a few days the after filing the company finally had to deal with us after ignoring us. We found the Ripoff Report because our neighbors had a similar experience site when they were being harmed from a reputation management company they felt was extorting them.

Bella, many businesses are being lied about and then extorted in order to clear their name. Although many complaints may be legitimate, the rest are half truths or complete fabrications. How do I know this? My husband is a realtor, he recently got his license in March of 2013. He dealt with a “client” who gave him fraudulent income and identification. My husband confronted him and advised him he wouldn’t be helping him anymore because he was running a scam. Coincidentally, a few days later a tenant of my husband’s sent him the link to the site. This man fabricated a story saying that he and his wife were buying a home and my husband took $1000 from him and disappeared. Mind you, he has his BRE license plastered all over the complaint, and not once did he mention anything about filing a complaint with the BRE. Another lady, is getting evicted from an apartment which my husband is the ASSISTANT manager to. She flipped the script on us when the manager had him deliver a 30 day notice. So she says we are now the “enemy” since the owner and manager is kicking her out for breaking her lease. My advise for anyone who researches a company or individual is to not take any information written on this site as factual. It’s a scam in it of itself. Just look at the guy running it.

The unfortunate beauty of the Ripoff Report is that it works far better than pursuing regular methods of getting a remedy to your problem. Particularly in the area of getting that paycheck, so many self-employed carpenters, etc., do the work and then the contractor doesn’t bother paying them. The recourse is to go to small claims court, but then resolution in favor of the plaintiff can take years, and, meanwhile, the contractor continues to hire people to do jobs, not pay them, and the cycle continues because there’s always someone out there needing work.

Oftentimes, these contractors are well-known and ‘important’ in the community. To use a popular cliche – AS IF anyone is going to support the person needing that pay over someone community-empowered.

Then, there’s the matter with munipal disputes. If you have your facts straight, and try to get resolution from city hall, for example, it’s unlikely that you’ll get a satisfactory resolution. I read a complaint on the Ripoff website about rudeness – I would have used stronger language – at a local library, (it was also ADA-related, and the people could have hauled in the ACLU on this one and won, but they didn’t need to), they got a quick resolution, (they wanted an apology), because Ripoff is fast and prominent.

Perhaps obviously, I found the Ripoff Report because I am facing a similar problem. If I am willing to expose myself to public humiliation by taking my issue to local press because all other avenues have been attempted, nothing will happen other than that I will have further exposed myself to furhter humiliation. The community will close in around the matter as it has already done. If I file a complaint on Ripoff Report, 1) it won’t be off the page within moments; 2) the audience for the complaint is then large, and not self-invested; 3) Magedson isn’t going to laugh, (at least not publicly), and act dissmisvely; 4) it’s a darn good feeling to know that someone who isn’t going to be bought off by local powers has your back; 5) what are chances that a local newspaper will print a complaint and risk losing advertisers, and a possible-probable SLAPP lawsuit – which could also be filed against me.

What, now that I know about Ripoff Report, would keep me from using the service? Surely there would be quick action as the city I live in wouldn’t want bad publicity simply because they won’t extend an apology. The realtors won’t like that much. But it doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel right to have to go that far. Are Ripoff Report ethics bad? Maybe, but they sure as heck are far better than what a person comes up against in community politics. Maybe turning local politics on its ear will be the Ripoff Report’s next big win.

ripoff.com is an extortion company. They print anonomous lies about any company and expect the company to pay them to do something about it. Their policy is guilty until proven innocent. Is this the American way of doing things? Magedson enjoys his filth. What a creep. No wonder he needs elaborate precautions. So did that creepy guy who kidnapped those 3 girls until he was exposed. He represents the “National Enquirer” about newspaper truth. The more he can exaggerate claims, the more damage he can do and hopefully the more money he can collect. I agree with the first comment that he belongs in prison for the damage he does.

Absolutely an extortion company! Lies that are fabricated and slander is fair game to Mr. probably smelly Mr. Puffy with the bad grooming. He would do very well in prison with the orgy princes! If this is freedom of speech with no real watchdogs paroling websites like these than sadly we are guilty of a larger crime as Americans…WAR! WAR against businesses just trying to do business..granted I speak for myself but isn’t this a form of war against businesses? To defend ‘good name and integrity’ forced to hire expensive legal advisors to police crap like this. Some one person or entity with great tech skills should know how to shut this creep out, down, up and away……I am sad to see war perpetuated and boundaries are nowhere in site!

I was a victim of a stalker personality who was after a woman who worked for me. My company name is foreverafter tarnished with lies. The article itself admits to exactly what it is this individual is doing. Taking advantage and exploiting misfortune. There may be an instance where a true complaint is lodged, but over time (I hope), people will become aware that what is happening is more harm than good.

To me it is a place where mud slinging, hate monging and ever thing related to ill will exists. It is EVIL and the people you will find there are the low end of the spectrum; people who deserve to be in jail; ex-cons, stalkers and destructive personalities.

You could have gotten your paycheck a better way. It is tantamount to taking a gun to someones head to get back what you feel you deserve, and people who do that GO TO JAIL. It is the essence of evil and a chosen road to take to yield a desirable result.

For most, it is a place to perpetrate evil and ill will toward another, more often than not, innocent person or persons, or are just bitter angry people being lead astray by someone who is a broker in this arena.

It is EVIL that is precisely what it is, and this individual, who has tarnished my name and reputation will be held accountable ultimately.

So, Adam, besides being a failed journalist with scrub day job, you have now self-flogged yourself with false narrative, baseless innuendos. As part of your horribly written and incoherent diatribe, you mention a grumpy Wiccan grandma, Eve Adams, ACM Records and Cue Hits, who is this so called victim? She defrauded us; we ousted her and reported her on Ripoff Report. What kind of victim admits she know who we are and what she did to us? She thought she has us and knew we could not afford to sue her in court but once we put her, ACM Records and CUE HITS into the light, now she is a victim? Yoy can’t make this kind of stuff up. Well, you can, and do, apparently. You see Adam; you just lie and don’t check your facts. Perhaps before trying to trick the readers into believing the $2,000 arbitration costs is some home making them rich, so some RESEARCH! Recommendation: Go to Barnes and Noble and buy “Arbitration Cost For Dummies.” It’s just past the $1 giveaway rack, next to the restroom where your upcoming book on personal data will be sold. AAA American Arbitration Assocaition, has on their website the following costs for Construction Claims. Initial Filing Fee ($950) and also Case Service Fee ($300) plus if the other party files a counter claim they will pay the filing which brings you to $2,200. The other party must pay for the arbitrator which ranges from $100-$600 per hour, with an average of $300 per hour (per arbitrator). The $2,000 offered by Ripoff Report seems like a great deal. And one last thing: Uh, responding to unsubstantiated, baseless and false nonsense on a online forum, is not called Online Defamation. It’s called FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Unlike your trash novels, the American people get to call you out here on your lies and stupidity. Cheers :)